Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 77

Sora, Riku, and the King stood before the doorway, their keyblades drawn and the tips touching each other as the tips glowed, releasing the lock on the door. Sora looked at the door, a look of determination on his face.

"Get ready, Xemnas. It all ends here!" he mumbled. With that, the group walked along the green, crystal-like path that led to the door. Axel looked at the woman from the corner of his eye as she walked alongside Kairi, apprehensive.

"So…if you're not Kyrie, then is she-"

"No, she is alive. This one is just manifesting herself using this body for awhile, do not fear. Once this is done, this one will lay dormant once more and give her back her body." the woman answered. He nodded, confused but trusting of the woman since she had saved Sora and opened the path for them to get to Xemnas. Kairi looked at the woman beside her, feeling a strange mixture of nostalgia and longing, like she knew this woman and had missed her.

"Do we…know each other?" she asked. The woman looked at her as she continued. "I mean, I feel like I know you from somewhere, but I don't remember meeting you." the woman smiled at this.

"My child, you were born from this one's light. You, and six others. You of the purest hearts, the seven princesses of heart. Your heart knows this one." she answered. Kairi blinked in confusion, but decided to let it go. Like with Axel, her answer was cryptic and confusing. The woman looked ahead and her eyes narrowed as they walked into the door, to see the dark city in a state of distortion. Sora gasped as he looked up, to see a dragon-like robotic creature with Xemnas standing atop its head.

"So…it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure to remember that." and with a flick of his wrist, a building began to collapse, falling towards them. The group jumped to get out of the way, Demyx, Kairi, Xigbar, and the King landing on the other side of the door. The door closed, shutting the others out while Sora, Donald, Goofy, the woman, Axel, and Riku remained inside. Sora growled as he turned towards Xemnas.

"We can take him on our own!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned his keyblade. Axel nodded in agreement as he summoned his chakrams.

"Yeah, one big dragon and a powerful nobody, this'll be easy. Got it memorized?" he added in his usual sarcasm. Sora rolled his eyes at this and ran in, slicing away the buildings that blocked his way. The woman joined in as well, using her two keyblades as she and Sora cut down the buildings like they were samurai cutting down their enemies. Riku, Axel, Donald, and Goofy followed close behind, using the pieces of broken buildings to propel themselves into one of the cores of the dragon. Once Sora and the woman joined them at the right core, they began to knock the enemies that appeared away, trying to figure out how to destroy the core.

"Damn, how do we reach it? We can't get to it from here!" Axel exclaimed as he slashed an enemy into bits. The woman glanced between the monsters and the core, before gasping.

"Sora, Axel, Riku, Donald, Goofy! Hurl the monsters into the core!" Sora and the others looked back at her, confused.

"What?"

"Follow my lead, young ones!" she exclaimed as she used her keyblades to knock the heartless away, straight into the core. This seemed to work for a short time, before Axel noticed that it was charging for an attack. He turned to the others.

"Guys, run! It's gonna fire!" he exclaimed. Sora, Riku, and the woman nodded as they jumped over, landing on the railings of the left cylinder. But when Sora turned, he gasped.

"Donald! Goofy!" he exclaimed. The two were trapped on the right cylinder, unable to make the jump. They stared at him with wide eyes.

"Sora!" they exclaimed in unison. Sora was about to go over and save them, before Riku tugged his arm back.

"No! Sora!" he exclaimed. The boy shot him a pleading look.

"But, Riku-" he started, but stopped when a blur of white shot past them, darting over to where Donald and Goofy were trapped. The woman quickly scooped Donald up with one arm and wrapped the other around Goofy's waist, jumping out of the way just as the cylinder fired. Landing gracefully in front of the two boys, she lowered the two on the ground, Sora sighing in relief.

"Thanks."

"It is this one's pleasure to assist our friends. Now, let's finish this." and with that, they got back to repeating what they did to the right cylinder to the left. After repeating this a few times, as well as jumping back and forth between the cylinders, the two cylinders exploded. The group got out just in time, jumping and reaching the energy core of the dragon.

"Attack the core, it will bring the monster down!" Riku ordered as he turned to the others. They nodded and began attacking, a barrier blocking them off a few minutes after. Nobodies began to flood the room, making Axel turn to them as he twirled his chakrams.

"You guys focus on the core, I'll handle these punks." the four nodded as they turned to the core, but the woman was at his side in moments, keyblades at the ready.

"This one will assist you. We wouldn't want what happened back at Betwixt and Between to repeat itself, would we?" she spoke. He chuckled at this.

"So, you know about that too, huh? Well, don't forget, I'm not a Nobody anymore. I can't fade away."

"That may be true, but-" she started as she cut down an assassin and berserker. "-the possibility of death is all too real." she finished. He nodded and the two began cutting down the Nobodies, flames and blade working in tandem as they took down their opponents. Once all of the Nobodies were gone, they turned their attention to Sora and the others as they finished off the energy core. With that, they moved onward, finally facing Xemnas as he sat on a thrown, incased in armor as he carried a large, blade-like staff.

"Xemnas, your time is up!" Sora cried as he ran in, keyblade ready. But a geyser of water threw him back, followed by lances and wind. Axel's eyes widened.

"Water? Wind and lances? Shit, he has our abilities!" he swore as he jumped back to avoid arrow gun bullets. The woman nodded as she helped Sora to his feet, before dispelling her white Kingdom Key. Another light grew in her hand as she focused on Xemnas.

"Come to me, Keyblade Ultima. Help this child." and within seconds, a keyblade appeared in her other hand. It was decorated in blue, white, and silver filigree and had crowns decorating its teeth, guard, and keychain. She quickly handed it to the boy, making him blink in confusion.

"Um-"

"Take it. Roxas could use the ability synch blade, so you can as well. This one knows, because I saw through this girl's eyes. Now make haste, he's coming!" she explained. He nodded and took the blade, the two jumping out of the way just as a flaming chakram was thrown at them.

"But what about you?" he cried. She turned to him and smiled, her bare hand glowing with a white light. Within seconds, the white Kingdom Key was in her hand once again.

"That keyblade is better suited for your fighting style than mine. Take good care of it." and with that, she was off, fending off the lances that tried to pierce Donald and Goofy. Sora looked at the new keyblade and nodded, running in and dealing deadly blows to Xemnas, who was now almost defenseless as the other members of the team fought off all of his obstacles. Within a matter of minutes, the fight was over and they were consumed by a flash of light.

-Altar of Naught-

"Aw man, where are they?" Demyx groaned as he scratched his head. After getting separated from the others, he and Xigbar kept an eye on Kairi and the King while making sure that no heartless or nobodies showed up. Xigbar shrugged his shoulders.

"Still fighting Xemnas, I guess." he answered. Kairi turned to them.

"They might need our help! We have to do something-" she started, but stopped when a pillar of light appeared, making the four gasp as they took a few steps back. Sora, Riku, Axel, Donald, Goofy, and the woman appeared, with Xemnas on his knees a few feet away, his hand held tightly over his chest.

"I need…more rage…I need more…hearts…" he panted. Sora looked at the man in pity.

"Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" he asked. The man stared at him blankly as he began to fade away. "Unfortunately…I don't." and with that, he disappeared. All was quiet for a few moments before the King turned to them.

"Gosh, you all did great!" he complimented, making Sora blush in embarrassment as he scratched his head. The woman smiled, taking a few steps forward so that her back was turned to them.

"Yes, you have all done exceedingly well. This one is proud to call you all "friend". But, alas, this one must go. She is getting anxious, because she does not know what has become of her loved ones." the woman spoke. The group blinked at her in confusion as she turned to them, a serene smile on her face.

"Do not fear, we will meet again. But I do ask one thing, do not tell the girl of this one's role in Xemnas' destruction. She does not need to know these things as of yet." she asked. Demyx blinked in confusion.

"Huh? Why can't we tell her?" he asked. The woman was silent for a moment, before answering.

"Because she does not need to know. Right now, her heart is dormant inside of this one's chest, wanting to have her body back. I have kept a barrier between us, so that she didn't have to see what was going on in her absence. Eventually, I will reveal this to her. Can this one trust you to keep your voices silent on the matter?"

"Sure, since you helped us a lot. We'll keep quiet." Mickey answered. She nodded, and with that, she disappeared in a flash of light and left Kyrie in her place, the girl falling forward as she did so. Axel quickly reached out and caught her, quickly picking her up and cradling her to his chest. He sighed in relief.

"It's good to have you back, Kyrie." he whispered as he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Sure, she was still unconscious, but he felt at ease now that he could hold her again, and knowing that she would be all right. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, startling them as the king looked around.

"Hurry!" the King exclaimed as he turned to his companions. Riku nodded as he held his palm out.

"I'll open a path. Huh?" he gasped when he realized he was unable to open a dark corridor. Mickey looked up at him.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku." he explained. The boy nodded as Donald looked at his king, a look of dismay on his face.

"Then how do we get out of here, your majesty?" Donald asked as he turned to the king. Almost immediately, a dark corridor appeared, seemingly out of thin air. But unseen by Donald, Goofy, and the King stood Namine as she stood next to the corridor, leaving it opened so that they could get through.

"Who did this?" Donald asked as he examined the corridor. The King crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side.

"Welp, I'm not sure. But we'd better hurry and get through." he answered. Demyx nodded as he approached the corridor.

"Yeah, let's get out of here before we get caught up in the destruction." he added. Out of nowhere, Pluto ran up and circled the king, barking wildly and startling Demyx as he fell in, the dog following after him.

"Wait for me!" Goofy cried as he ran in. Donald and the King looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. The King walked in and Xigbar followed, stopping with Donald as the two turned to them.

"C'mon!"

"Yeah, better hurry before it closes. Oh, and thanks, kid." he added as he looked at Namine. She smiled and the two walked through, before Kairi approached the girl.

"Thank you, Namine."

"Sure." she answered. Then she turned to Sora. "See? We met again, like we promised."

"Huh?"

"You said we'd meet again, but when we did, we might not recognize each other." a voice spoke. Suddenly, Roxas walked out of Sora's body and met Namine face-to-face, both of their bodies translucent as he did so. Axel gasped as he stared at the boy.

"Roxas…?" he asked. The boy looked at him and smiled, before turning his attention back to Namine. The girl smiled.

"I did, didn't I?" she giggled. The boy chuckled a little before continuing.

"But I knew you."

"Mmm…it's strange." she agreed. Roxas scratched his head for a moment before continuing.

"I think I understand. I see myself the way you remember me. And you see yourself the way I remember you." he added. The girl nodded, agreeing with his words.

"I always thought that nobodies were doomed to fade into darkness…" she explained, looking down at her hands. The boy placed his hand over hers, making her look up and blush a little.

"Yeah, but you, me, and Axel didn't. We got to meet our original selves and Kyrie gave Axel his own heart. Plus, Demyx and Xigbar didn't fade because Kyrie saved Demyx and Xigbar changed his mind." he explained, rolling his eyes at Demyx's and Xigbar's names. She smiled at this.

"So, we can be together again!" she exclaimed, happy with the news. The boy nodded.

"Right. Anytime Sora and Kairi are together." he added, looking at the two. Sora blushed and Kairi nodded, smiling brightly at the two.

"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora?" she assured them as she turned to the boy. He jumped a little before nodding. "Uh…yeah!" Roxas smiled before looking over to Axel and Kyrie, the girl unconscious in his arms.

"I'm sorry for all that's happened, and I'm glad…that Kyrie gave you a heart of your own." he spoke morosely as he stared at his best friend. Axel nodded before smirking.

"And what about you? Looks like you went and got a girlfriend when I wasn't looking." he teased. Roxas laughed before the girl in Axel's arms stirred a little.

"Rox…as…Nam…ine…" the two in question blinked and she went under again, before he sighed. "You guys take care of each other, okay?" Axel nodded.

"Yeah, we will. And see ya soon, buddy." and with that, Namine stepped forward and grasped Kairi's hand, disappearing in a flash of golden light and going into her body. Roxas approached his other and stared him in the eye.

"Look sharp!" Sora stiffened and nodded, and Roxas disappeared in a flash of blue light that went into Sora's body. The boy looked himself and Kairi over before Riku chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. You're all still you." Kairi nodded as she smiled.

"Hey, let's go home!" she exclaimed as she ran to the corridor, Axel right behind her as he carried Kyrie. Riku hesitated, making Sora turn to him.

"Riku…c'mon." he urged. Riku was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah." Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake and the dark corridor began to close, making Kairi and Axel gasp as they turned to them.

"Sora! Riku!" she exclaimed, but was cut off when the dark corridor closed, sealing their fate.

Oh geez...only three more chapters to go, and one's an epilouge! Sigh...

Well, at least there's still part three. Which is something I'm looking forward to doing because I'm not using a main storyline. (by main I mean a storyline already existing in the series) So I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. But don't worry, I'm not going to use a crappy Disney world/movie. But if you have any suggestions that aren't in the poll, PM me!

Anyways, please review! XD